Lei-Sea Sky is living her American Dream as a student at The University of Texas at Arlington and as the school’s first Deaf Student Mentor.
When you walk around the campus of UT Arlington during a busy spring afternoon, you’re likely to hear laughter, conversations and the bustle of student activities. But as a deaf individual, Sky has a different experience as she walks to class.
“From a deaf perspective, things are a little bit different, deaf people are very visual, which means we have to learn everything by what we see. So, growing up I didn’t have access to overhearing what people were talking about, I didn’t always understand what was going on around my environment, so I missed so much because of that,” Sky said.
Sky is succeeding and thriving in the hearing world, while promoting equal access at UTA. She is pursing majors in social work and political science, as well as three minors, along with participation in clubs and organizations.
“When Covid happened and shut down the world, I decided that it was time to go back to school. So, that meant that more accommodations were provided for everyone, for everything. There was more access and that was the norm for people in general and so through that I was able to be successful and realized the success I could have and that gave me a passion to see what success could look like for me,” Sky said.
Sky said she is not only looking for her own success in navigating the hearing world, but she is working to help other deaf individuals understand how they can be successful as well. She collaborates with departments and assembles teams of faculty and staff to ensure Deaf students at UTA receive equal access. When she graduates, she says that she has one goal in mind, “my dream career after I graduate, would be to write a bill for deaf rights.”
Click here to read more about Lei-Sea Sky from the UTA’s School of Social Work. Click here to also read about UTA launching a new minor in American Sign Language and Deaf Studies.
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